Thursday, August 24, 2006

Duquette Johnston

Good morning, children of men. Today I write to encourage you to check out a few mp3s from Duquette Johnston's recently released solo record, Etowah. Just to clarify,Duquette Johnston was formerly know as Daniel Johnston, ex-member of Verbena not to be confused with the more infamous Daniel Johnston.

Confused? Let me illustrate:

Daniel Johnston (the not just a little crazy one)

The other Daniel Johnston, now known as Duquette:

Certainly you can understand, dear reader, why Duquette gladly took the other name his mama gave him.

Etowah is a collection of songs written about Johnston's experience in a correctional facility in North Alabama (Etowah County), from which he emerged a changed and God-fearin' man. It's a great collection of slow- to mid-tempo songs, the best of which are slow and confessional with sparse accompaniment. Several of the tracks feature Through the Sparks as a backing band in various capacities, although vocal harmonies are mostly by Johnston himself. The styles and melodies on this record undoubtably warrant comparisons to Neil Young and newer artists in a similar vein such as Damien Jurado and Gillian Welch.

The CD release party for Etowah (Superphonic Records) will be at Bottletree in Birmingham, AL Saturday, August 26th.